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Deliberations to continue Thursday for widow of Pulse shooter

By Kelly Healey, Jason Kelly and Monique Valdes
By Kelly Healey, Jason Kelly and Monique Valdes

ORLANDO, Fla. — The fate of Noor Salman, the widow of the Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, is now in the hands of a jury.

The 12-member jury, which consists of seven women and five men, received instructions, and deliberations began shortly before 1:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Judge Paul Byron allowed the jurors to deliberate until 5 p.m., but since no verdict was reached, deliberations will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Salman is accused of helping her husband plan a mass shooting at Pulse Orlando nightclub in June 2016. Forty-nine people were killed and more than 50 injured in the attack. 
Salman, 31, has pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding the support of a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death and obstruction of justice.

If Salman is found not guilty of aiding and abetting, jurors have the option to select attempted aiding and abetting.

During deliberations, jurors asked to examine a statement Salman made to FBI agents in the hours after her husband carried out the attack. The judge printed out copies of it to be given to the panel. The statement suggests Salman knew of an attack and did nothing to stop it.

Read: Salman's attorneys ask judge to dismiss charges
 
Before Salman's trial, her attorneys had sought to prevent the statement from being presented as evidence. They have argued at trial that it was coerced.
 
The jurors also asked a question about an index of evidence and the wording on one of the charges Salman faces.

During their closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutors revealed new information that Mateen wanted to target Disney Springs, and that Salman knew.
Photos: Remembering the victims
Prosecutors said Mateen had a baby stroller and a doll inside his van. They said Mateen planned to hide an AR-15 rifle inside the stroller when he got to Disney Springs, but got spooked by police and chose Pulse as his target instead.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Sweeney told the jury that Salman "knowingly engaged in misleading conduct" when she spoke with the FBI in the hours after the attack, the Associated Press said.
But the defense called the planned attack on Disney Springs a "new theory."
"It was all about scouting the Pulse (nightclub) and casing the Pulse (nightclub)," she said. "And then, all of a sudden, for the first time, in the closing arguments, no, that's not their emphasis anymore. Now, it's Disney."

Photos: Courtroom sketches of Noor Salman trial

“This will be really telling what the evidence really was since I wasn't able to come to every day of the trial,” said Christine Leinonen, whose son died in the 2016 attack. "Now, I will be able to see exactly what each side thinks they did prove."

She said she believes that Salman knew of Mateen's plans.

"I believe that she full well knew that the jihad was imminent, and she helped him," Leinonen said.

Defense attorneys for Salman told the jury that she had no idea what her husband had planned that night in June 2016.
 
They said that she couldn't have known about the attack because Mateen didn't even know he was going to attack the Pulse nightclub. 
Prosecutors said Salman knew Mateen was buying ammunition and that she helped him spend money before the attack and knew about his plan when he left home the night he killed 49 people.
 
Defense attorneys describe Salman as a simple woman with a low IQ who was abused by her husband, and who didn't know of his plans because he concealed much of his life from her.
Salman faces life in prison if convicted.
WATCH LIVE: You're the jury - the trial of Noor Salman

WATCH LIVE: Join the conversation with Eyewitness News 9's Greg Warmoth and legal analyst Bill Sheaffer as they recap today's events in the trial of Noor Salman, widow of Pulse nightclub gunman Omar Mateen. https://at.wftv.com/2utRd1V

Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Wednesday, March 28, 2018

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